Barclaycard borrowers pushed to the limit

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Barclaycard, the country’s biggest credit card provider, has been accused of encouraging its customers into unmanageable debt by raising credit limits automatically without their explicit permission.

Charities have warned that borrowers could be seduced into spending far more than they can afford by the credit card companies’ policy of offering customers “opt-out” rather than “opt-in” credit increases. All credit card providers are entitled to raise credit limits at any time, and during the boom years did so with little regard for borrowers’ ability to repay their debt. As the financial crisis bit, the pendulum swung to the other extreme as